In his, Mr.Weguelin says: 'If the amount of the reserve kept by the Bank of England be contrasted with the reserve kept by the joint stock banks, a new and hitherto little considered source of danger to the credit of the country will present itself.

The joint stock banks of London, judging by their published accounts, have deposits to the amount of 30,000,000 L.Their capital is not more than 3,000,000 L., and they have on an average 31,000,000 L., invested in one way or another, leaving only 2,000,000 L.as a reserve against all this mass of liabilities.' But these remarkable words were little observed in the discussions of that time.

The air was obscured by other matters.

But in this work I have said so much on the subject that I need say little now.
The joint stock banks now keep a main part of their reserve on deposit with the bill-brokers, or in good and convertible interest-bearing securities.

From these they obtain a large income, and that income swells their profits.